The Right Man
by best thing since cookies
Summary: My boyfriend used to ask his mother, "How can I find the right woman for me?" and she would answer, "Don't worry about finding the right woman--concentrate on becoming the right man." Conversation between teenage Derek and his mother. ONESHOT


**Basically, I'm writing one-shots based on quotes and sayings that remind me of GA and a few other fandoms. It's an exercise to keep my mind writing when I'm not working on my "bigger" stories.**

_My boyfriend used to ask his mother, "How can I find the right woman for me?" and she would answer, "Don't worry about finding the right woman--concentrate on becoming the right man."_

Derek ran through the house with Mark on his heels. They were heading to school, and they were going to be late. "Get off!" Derek laughed when Mark plowed into him, sending them both to the frozen ground.

"Deanna's still here," Mark noticed, looking up at her beatup station wagon. "Mom'll kill you if you don't make sure she's at school today." He laughed as Derek cursed and took of running back into the house. He would make it to school before the bell rang. Hopefully. Turning on his heel, Mark took of running the half-mile to the school.

"Dammit, De!" Derek yelled, throwing her door open. "Get up. We're already going to be late, _again_."

"Oh, God," Deanna bolted up, suddenly alert. "I was supposed to go in early to take a test." She looked wildly around and saw her alarm clock was blinking. "Did the power go out?" She threw her blankets off and put her feet onto the cold, hardwood floor.

"No, the power didn't go out," Derek said. "You should have gone in with Kathleen and the other girls."

"They all have to go in insanely early," Deanna said derisively. "There's no way I'm getting up that early just to sit there for an hour before school starts."

"You can sleep. You're good at the sleeping in school thing. Now, hurry up." Derek slammed the door behind him and headed to the kitchen. If he was going to be late, he was going to at least eat breakfast.

"Hurry up, Derek. I'm going to the car!" Deanna yelled eight minutes later.

"I don't understand how you take four minute showers," Derek huffed, slamming his car door.

"I don't understand how you take thirty minute showers," Deanna countered, her breath making a white cloud in the cold morning air. "Washing takes no time at all."

"You didn't condition your hair. That's cheating," Derek accused.

Deanna laughed. "I didn't have time, Derek. I'm not like you, who can wake up at the drop of a hat. I sleep like a log." She pulled into the school and put the car into park. "Hurry, I don't think the second bell has rung yet."

They both darted from the car and ran into the warm school.

-

"It's not fair," Derek complained for possibly the fortieth time.

The "Winter Ball" that their high school was hosting was for upperclassman only. Kathleen and Nancy, as a junior and senior, were going, and Deanna was going to stay the night with a "friend," meaning she was going to a party. Even Mark was going to the dance. Amy didn't care one way or the other because she was socially awkward and preferred to spend the night with her boyfriend and the Star Wars trilogy anyway.

"I'm sorry, Derek," Caroline consoled. She would have allowed him to hang out with Mark if the other boy wasn't going to the dance. As it was, Derek was stuck at home while she baked for the church cake walk.

"I just don't understand," Derek said. He glumly stirred the cake mix that his mother handed to him.

"What is it that you don't understand, baby?" Caroline asked, chewing thoughtfully on a carrot. She slapped Derek's hand when it went right over the carrots, straight for the cookie. "It's for the church."

Derek rubbed his smarting hand. "I don't understand how Mark always dates pretty much anyone he sets his sights on. Nancy and Kathleen always have boyfriends. Even Amy has a nerdy little guy, and she's a huge geek!"

"Mark's a geek," Caroline pointed out. "He's in the marching band."

Derek sighed. "But he's _charming._ I've never even had a girlfriend." He suddenly turned to his mother. "Mom, how can I find the right woman for me?"

Caroline thoughtfully checked the muffins in the oven. Her fifteen-year-old son was asking her how to find the right woman for him. She knew that he would start dating eventually. It was inevitable, but he was looking for something more substantial than a date, and he hadn't even had a good prospect yet! "Derek, you have your entire life ahead of you. It may be years before you find the right girl. Just. Don't worry about finding the right," she sighed and begrudgingly used his wording, "_woman_--concentrate on becoming the right man."


End file.
